| Roots Canada Ltd. |
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Information AboutRoots Canada Ltd. |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT ROOTS CANADA LTD. | |
| clothing retailers of canada | |
| companies established in 1973 | |
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Roots Canada Ltd. (commonly called '''Roots''') is an Apparel Retailer that sells clothes and accessories for women, men and children. HISTORY Roots was founded in 1973 by Michael Budman and Don Green , formerly of Detroit , Michigan . The store concept was based on their experiences at a summer camp called Camp Tamakwa in Ontario ’s Algonquin Park during their childhood. The company originally sold footwear at a single location in Toronto . Its first product was the ''Roots Negative Heel Shoe'' (also called the Earth Shoe). It has since expanded its line of merchandise to include items such as jackets, bags, watches, luggage, sweatshirts and fashion accessories. OPERATIONS Currently headed by co-founders Michael Budman and Don Green, Roots has expanded past its origins in clothing retail and now boasts multiple product lines, including: # Roots Genuine Leather (shoes, jackets, bags and luggage); # Roots Athletics (sportswear); # Roots Kids and Roots Baby (children's clothing); # Roots Yoga and #Roots Home (leather furniture, linens, towels and accessories). Additional products such as timepieces, fragrances and luggage are also available in various stores. Roots currently has more than 2,000 employees throughout Canada. The company has stores across the country, in every province except Newfoundland & Labrador. In recent years Roots had to close down several stores reducing its presence in the marketplace. Some stores in British Columbia which included the Guildford, Coquitlam, Willowbrook, Oakridge and Nanaimo locations were also shut down. The Company is based in Toronto, Ontario and had estimated sales of about $300 million in 2003 . However, much of the above product lines are offered in the flagship stores only and several lines, such as 'Roots Kids' have been phased out or reduced in size in many stores. Besides its retail and online operations, Roots products can be purchased at, Modell's Sporting Goods in the U.S. and Taiwan (12 stores). OLYMPIC GAMES Roots is perhaps best known as the official Olympic outfitter for several countries including Canada (from 1998 to 2004 ), Great Britain , USA and Barbados . The 1998 Nagano Olympics was a breakthrough event for the corporation, as the 'Poorboy' hats worn by the Canadian Olympic team became a marketing phenomenon. Over 500,000 were sold {Link without Title} . Roots followed up the success of the poorboy hats with Beret s for the American Olympic team in 2002, selling over a million units. {Link without Title} Roots recently ended its partnership with the Canadian Olympic team in 2004 ; the Hudson's Bay Company signed a deal in 2005 to become the national outfitter through the 2012 Olympics . The controversial decision was in part due to Roots' desire to keep more of the profits from the sale of Olympic branded products whereas the HBC was willing to share more with the Canadian Olympic team. Roots does remain the official sponsor of the Canadian Speedskating team. EXTERNAL LINKS
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